You and I know that technology is moving faster than we can even keep up. What was optional even two years ago is a necessity now.

Amber, my online business manager and I were talking yesterday about this. When we first started working together years ago, not everyone had email addresses. And most therapists didn’t have websites and the online therapist locators didn’t exist. Yet here we are – some of us have so many email addresses we can hardly keep track.

So, I am going out on a limb here and say that you need to give something of value away for free on your site. I don’t think this is really optional anymore. We call this no-charge item a pink spoon – a free taste – just like the tiny taste you get at the ice cream store. This pink spoon is important whether you want a multiple streams of therapy income business or want to increase the number of clients coming into your practice.

Chris Anderson, business author of the book FREE writes that the culture expects to search the web and view and download information at no-charge. Take a look at You Tube – where you can view millions of videos at no-charge. My 83 year-old Dad enjoys sharing his favorites with us. (He loved Susan Boyle and the Von Trapp dancing in the Belgium train station – but, really, who didn’t?)

I predict that in the not to distant future, websites that market a practice without offering a no-charge informational product will be passed over in favor of those that do. Anderson suggests that sooner or later all businesses will need to learn how to compete with “free.”

Actually this is great news for you! You have a ton of information in your head and in your heart that can help people. You helped the young mother who was terrified when she found out she was pregnant again. You helped the estranged couple to find love with each other again. A frightened child can smile again thanks to you. Your wisdom, day after day, session after session, heals and transforms. The powerful questions that you invite your clients to consider propel them to happier, more functional lives. Imagine how wonderful it would be if more people had a chance to experience that wisdom. By putting a no-charge info product (audio, report or video) on your website, you help people you may never meet in person. Plus you will create demand for people who want to go deeper and do one on one work with you.

What does it take to create your pink spoon? First, ask yourself “What would my web visitor be interested in?” Then decide if you want to create a written, video or audio product. Today you will find that there are some very simple tools to help you create your first pink spoon.

After that, you’ll need some technical skill or a high school student to help you get it on your site. Then keep track of how many downloads it so you know how well it is working for you.

It is just about here that I find many bright, motivated therapists seem to, well, stop. They have thought about a pink spoon and have some ideas for content. But the transition from idea to product seems difficult.

Is this you? Do you find yourself with ideas but for some reason haven’t moved ahead in ways you’d like? A client of mine in North America recently said “When I’m afraid it won’t be perfect, I stop myself.” Here is the advice I offered her: Focus on completion not perfection. While it is important to think about the content of your pink spoon and how you want to deliver it, don’t let the desire to make is perfect keep you stuck. Set a date. Get it done. After all I can tell you from experience, it will never be perfect – you will revise it later. So here is your permission to make it just ‘good enough’.

And please share your pink spoon with us on here on the blog in the comments section below.

Want more? We are planning a Pink Spoon beta coaching group later in the fall for those who are ready to create their first pink spoon. If you’d like to be advised of the details, join our Pink Spoon Community here.

Also, I will be presenting at the Practice Building Virtual Conference on “How to Create a Pink Spoon for Your Practice.” More details on the conference are here: http://www.practicebuildingconference.com.